An official from a radical Palestinian Islamist party has used Islam's third holiest mosque to hail Osama bin Laden as a "lion" and denounce President Barack Obama as a "dog" who deserves to be hanged.

Osama bin Laden 'will not be seen walking the earth again' said Barack ObamaPhoto: AP

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has branches in 40 countries and is active in Britain, advocates the recreation of the Islamic caliphate that emerged from Arabia shortly after the Prophet Mohammed's death and calls for the implementation of Sharia, Islamic law, across the Muslim world.

Although the party was founded in Jerusalem, it has little support among Palestinians and is dwarfed by its principal Islamic rival Hamas, which has also spoken out against Bin Laden's killing.

Mohammed is held by Muslims to have conversed with God after ascending to Heaven from the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the compound that once housed the Jewish Temples of antiquity.

It is common in Islam for individuals to launch speeches inside mosques when prayers are complete. Mr Hamouri's harangue drew an audience of about 20, but was ignored by most worshippers.

The Muslim authority in charge of the mosque, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, said it did not endorse Mr Hamouri's beliefs.

Azzam Khatib, the director of the Waqf, said no official position on whether bin Laden's killing should be praised or condemned had been taken.